Two way radios?

Antenna length primarily improves reception. A straight wire is incredible at pulling I signal, but doesn't fit in the woods.
Mounting low and near the body just grounds out most of the radiated power.
Longer length and greater distance from grounded sheet metal are things to consider - more important than simply tuning for good SWR.
 
Seems to me, if everyone involved in a run is equipped with a well tuned CB radio so communication is clear and concise, all is well. Even with a larger sized group, it should be enough. No need to complicate this with more energy/money/time. Unless I am missing something here. If something works, don't fix it.
 
Slimebones said:
Seems to me, if everyone involved in a run is equipped with a well tuned CB radio so communication is clear and concise, all is well. Even with a larger sized group, it should be enough. No need to complicate this with more energy/money/time. Unless I am missing something here. If something works, don't fix it.
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CBs are great unless your trail leader is 10 miles ahead of you. 😎

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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
 
Slimebones said:
Seems to me, if everyone involved in a run is equipped with a well tuned CB radio so communication is clear and concise, all is well. Even with a larger sized group, it should be enough. No need to complicate this with more energy/money/time. Unless I am missing something here. If something works, don't fix it.
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Audio quality and range is why I’m going with a race radio. Sure a CB will work, and I’ll probably keep mine, but there are better options available.


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Your radio is only good if people in your group have the same capability. If you’re a HAM guy and everyone else is on CB or FRS, you’re not going to be able to talk to them and vice versa.
 
fiend said:
Your radio is only good if people in your group have the same capability. If you’re a HAM guy and everyone else is on CB or FRS, you’re not going to be able to talk to them and vice versa.
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Unless you have the capability to do it all... I like to be prepared
 
fiend said:
Your radio is only good if people in your group have the same capability. If you’re a HAM guy and everyone else is on CB or FRS, you’re not going to be able to talk to them and vice versa.
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From what I have been seeing, the group of guys that I wheel with, more and more people are moving to race radios - CBs are the minority
 
I'm sure it's just me but if I'm wheeling with friends, I try to keep them within visual range because, you know, they're my friends and I'm wheeling with them. If dust requires them to back off, I try to make sure they're within radio distance. If I've got a big group with me, I ask everyone to relay important messages so that everyone hears it and if we get too spread out or come across a critical junction, I stop and wait for everyone to regroup. To me personally, if my friends are 10 miles behind me, we're not actually wheeling together but then, that's just me.

I have a well tuned CB mounted on a good location with a solid ground and almost everyone who's wheeled with me says they can hear me the best. I also run a race radio and while it works well, I still prefer my CB if only because I hate the static blasts that the race radios have and with the exception of weatherman, not everyone has the same channels. Of the same channels they might have, a lot of them are emergency responder channels. Hams are great but most of the people I know don't have one and while you can get one that can communicate with a race radio, you still need to know what frequency everyone is on and most people have no idea.

With all that said, we're talking about radios here - you know, so that we can communicate with our friends. Regardless of what flavor you prefer, I might recommend that you spend more of it doing it face to face. You might actually have a better time out on the trail. Just a thought.

Have a great weekend everyone :cool:
 
wayoflife said:
I'm sure it's just me but if I'm wheeling with friends, I try to keep them within visual range because, you know, they're my friends and I'm wheeling with them.

With all that said, we're talking about radios here - you know, so that we can communicate with our friends. Regardless of what flavor you prefer, I might recommend that you spend more of it doing it face to face. You might actually have a better time out on the trail. Just a thought.

Have a great weekend everyone :cool:
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Well said!! It’s all about having a awesome experience with great people!


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
Lots of good information in this thread but some false information as well.

CB's are great because they require no license and are pretty straight forward to operate. CB's require a good ground at the antenna and need to be tuned using a SWR meter. Without a solid ground or SWR you will be very limited on both your xmit and receive side. No matter how many watts your CB puts out it will never sound as clear as a ham radio because it's on the AM side of the spectrum.

The next step up from a CB is FRS, Family Radio Service, radios. Theses are the like walkie talkies you see families walking around Disneyland with. Great for stuff like that but these to become limited at distance. The Motorola website says their top of the line T600 is good in the mountains and valleys up to 35 miles...BULLSHIT! Anyone can monitor these but you can use a privacy tone to avoid unwanted chatter. No license is required and again these provide zero emergency service communications.

Ham radio is the next step. This requires a license and can be done with a little studying and attending a 1 day class. Cost for the license is minimal but the cost of the radio does go up. A nice dual band ham radio will cover ham frequencies, FRS, GMRS AND you will be able to monitor local emergency services frequencies however you will still need a stand alone CB if you want CB channels as well. The audio quality is superior to CB's. There is no limit to distance if you connect to a repeater network and these channels are constantly monitored so in an emergency you will be more likely to get help quicker. There are other advantages like APRS where you can create a group and be able to track other Jeepers locations on your GPS.

Now to cover race radios. If you have a race style radio and xmit on it without having a license you are committing a crime and can be fined by the FCC. The frequencies that are preprogrammed into radios like what you can purchase from Rugged Radios are frequencies that are owned by individuals and companies with proper licensing and only they are authorized to xmit. You might think that it's no big deal to pick up a mic and start talking but I can assure you there are consequences. For example you may key the mic on a freq that you and your buddy use all the time on the Rubicon but guess what...that same freq in the Moab are is used by the county sheriff to control the sally port door at their jail.

Using frequencies you do not hold a license for is the equivalent to not treading lightly on the trail and it's a good way to get the FCC to tighten regulations even more. With that said anyone can listen to any freq they want but transmitting is a different story.
 
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